24 March 2015 – The day of the crash

In the investigation file, the following description can be found on page HA 09803: (Topic: Examination of the witness (Andreas Lubitz’s girlfriend) on 26.03.2015, here as “supplemental” to the initial interrogation).

Non-facts from the investigation file

“In response to whether she had taken things from her boyfriend’s parents’ house in Montabaur, she makes the following statements: On the day of the crash she had waited for his return in Düsseldorf with her boyfriend’s parents. When the delay of the machine became longer, she told the parents that it would not be worthwhile waiting (it is not possible to discover if she had knowledge of the crash at that point in time). For this reason they drove together to Montabaur. There, she gathered random things of her boyfriend’s and packed them in a bag.”

The facts are

The girlfriend never made these statements! It appears in the file as a supplement to her interrogation and is not signed by her. This raises the question of why detective chief superintendent G. wrote it and placed it in the file.

The true events

On 24 March 2015 Andreas Lubitz’s father was at a business meeting in Eindhoven, Netherlands, as evidenced by the minutes of that meeting. His wife telephoned him there about the Germanwings crash. At that time nobody knew for certain whether Andreas Lubitz was on that flight. Andreas Lubitz’s mother and brother drove together from Montabaur to Düsseldorf airport to determine whether he was on board. At Düsseldorf airport they were greeted by Germanwings / Lufthansa employees and a pastor, who are witnesses to their arrival. Mrs. Lubitz received the news that her son was co-pilot of the crashed machine and immediately telephoned her husband. He ended his business meeting and drove to Düsseldorf airport to meet his family. The girlfriend was at work at the relevant time, as colleagues can testify, and came later with her stepfather to Düsseldorf airport where she was also received by employees of the crisis team (also witnesses) and was taken to join the Lubitz family. After completing the formalities, the Lubitzes and the girlfriend with her step-father departed in their own cars, just as they had come. There was no shared ride to Montabaur! Nor did the girlfriend remove any items from Andreas Lubitz’s room in the family home in Montabaur. This fact alone is absurd, as she had lived with Andreas in their shared apartment in Düsseldorf for almost a year and it would be illogical for her to remove any items. Furthermore, she never entered the Lubitz home on the night in question.

Consequences of misrepresentations

These absolutely untrue “facts” placed in the investigation file prompted relatives and their legal advisors to alert the press, who sensationalized false interpretations and conclusions and widely disseminated them to the public.
For examples of this sensationalism, see the following links: